Michael Fred Phelps

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer and 11-time Olympic Gold medalist who holds world records in several events.

Phelps won eight medals in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which tied him with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin for the most medals of any type in any one Olympics.[2]
Overall, Phelps has won thirteen Olympic medals (eleven gold, two bronze): eight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (six gold, two bronze) and five at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (all gold),[3] which gave him the most gold medals of any Olympic athlete of the modern Olympic era.
Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007.
So far, Phelps has won a total of 45 career medals: 37 golds, 6 silvers and 2 bronze. This includes all the Championships he has competed in: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Phelps has qualified to compete in eight swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and is attempting to surpass fellow US swimmer Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Olympics.

Phelps was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in the Rodgers Forge neighborhood. He graduated from Towson High School in 2003.[4] His father, Fred Phelps, worked for the Maryland State Police and his mother, Debbie Davisson Phelps, is a middle school principal.[5] The two divorced in 1994.[4] Michael, whose nickname is "MP", has two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary.[4][5] Both of them were swimmers as well, with Whitney coming close to making the U.S. national team for the 1996 Summer Olympics before injuries derailed her career.
In his youth, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).[4] He started swimming at age seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his restless energy. He blossomed quickly as a swimmer, and by the age of 10 held a national record for his age group. More age group records followed, and Phelps' rapid improvement culminated in his qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15.[6]
In November 2004, at the age of 19, Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the following month and was granted probation before judgment and ordered to serve 18 months probation, fined $250, obligated to speak to high schoolers about drinking and driving and had to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.[7][8] Questioned about the incident later that month by Matt Lauer on the Today Show, Phelps said it was an "isolated incident" and that he had "definitely let myself down and my family down…I think I let a lot of people in the country down."[4]
Between 2004 and 2008, Phelps attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, studying sports marketing and management. In May 2008, Phelps said he intends to return to Baltimore following the 2008 Olympics, joining Bob Bowman there when he leaves the University of Michigan, saying, "I'm not going to swim for anybody else. I think we can both help the North Baltimore Athletic Club go further. I'm definitely going to be in Baltimore next year." The club has announced that Bowman is leaving the University of Michigan to become the club's CEO.[9]
In a front page illustrated article profiling Phelps on the eve of the 2008 Summer Olympics, The Baltimore Sun described the hometown swimmer as "a solitary man" with a "rigid focus" at the pool prior to a race, but afterwards "a man incredibly invested in the success of the people he cares about".[4] Bowman told a Sun interviewer, "He's unbelievably kind-hearted", recounting Phelps' interaction with young children after practices.[4]

As a young teenager, Phelps trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, under coach Bob Bowman. At the age of 15, Phelps competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, becoming the youngest American male swimmer at an Olympic Games in 68 years. While he did not win a medal, he was fifth in the 200 m Butterfly. Phelps proceeded to make a name for himself in swimming shortly thereafter. Five months after the Sydney Olympics, Phelps broke the world record in the 200 m butterfly to become, at 15 years and 9 months, the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record.[10] He then broke his own record again at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (1:54.58). At the 2002 Summer Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Phelps also broke the world record for the 400 m individual medley and set American marks in the 100 m butterfly and the 200 m individual medley.
In 2003, Phelps broke his own world record in the 400 m individual medley (4:09.09) and in June, he broke the world record in the 200 m individual medley (1:56.04). Then on July 7, 2004, Phelps broke his own world record again in the 400 m individual medley (4:08.41) during the U.S. trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 2004, Phelps left North Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman to train at the University of Michigan for Club Wolverine.

2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games
See also: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics
Event
Results
Time
400 m individual medley
Gold Medal, World Record
4:08.26[11]
100 m butterfly
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
51.25[12]
200 m freestyle
Bronze Medal, American Record
1:45.32[13]
200 m butterfly
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
1:54.04[14]
200 m individual medley
Gold Medal, Olympic Record
1:57.14[15]
4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Bronze Medal
3:14.62[16]
4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold Medal, American Record
7:07.33[17]
4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold Medal, World Record
3:30.68[18]

Giving Up Wine

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner. I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?" "No, I had to stop drinking years ago", the homeless woman told me."Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?" I asked."No, I don't waste time shopping," the homeless woman said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.""Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?" I asked."Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless woman. I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!""Well, I said, "I'm not going to gi ve you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight."The homeless Woman was shocked. "Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting." I said, "That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine."

The overweight americans

There is no polite way to say this: Americans are fat, and they're getting fatter. More than 60 million Americans are obese, up from 23 million in 1980. Another 28 million are expected to join their ranks by 2013.
Forget the stereotypes: It's not just people in low-income neighborhoods who are packing on the pounds at McDonald's (Research). Researchers at the University of Iowa have found that obesity rates are rising most rapidly among urbanites who earn $60,000 or more per year.
Heretofore, the main business response to this overwhelming demographic trend has been the $49 billion weight-loss industry. But now a much broader segment of corporate America has begun to see the nation's fattening for what it is: a potentially powerful driver of consumer demand across a wide swath of the economy.
Just as baby boomers have driven business and shaped the economy during the past half century, the "plus-size" population is likely to dictate marketing trends through much of the 21st.
Already, greater girth is forcing American business to rethink -- albeit carefully -- the way it designs and sells everything from sofas and toilets to clothes.
The new wave is that women and men are packing on the pounds and instead of trying to loose the weight, they buy bigger clothes!

The necklace

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. "Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her l ittle girl's upturned face. "A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma." As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace. Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite." "That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss. About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.""That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?" Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy; this is for you." With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to tak e the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure. So it is, with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures. Isn't God good? Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of? Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing. God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place. You can do two things with this story: A. Pass it on and let others be touched by its message; B. Throw it away and not let it touch your heart. The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch others. NOT to DECIDE is to DECIDE

Nine Ways to Advance Your Career

Setting long-term goals and creating a plan for achieving them are important for career growth, but small changes to your daily routine can have a big impact on your professional prospects, too. Following are nine simple -- yet often overlooked -- actions that can help you advance professionally.

1. Speak up. Actively participating in office discussions demonstrates your enthusiasm and interest in the company. Before you attend meetings, review the agenda and prepare a few points of interest on the topics to be addressed. While you don't want to talk to hear yourself speak, do not hesitate to share your ideas when you have something valuable to add.

2. Sit in the 'hot seat.' Did you know that where you sit in a meeting can determine if you get a plum assignment or not? Choosing a seat near the meeting leader signals your support and helps ensure you're seen and heard. And by placing yourself at the center of the action, you're likely to participate more.

3. Exercise your bragging rights. You may have heard the phrase, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." But in the office, it often comes down to who knows you. Imagine the executives in your company are having a meeting to decide who will work on a high-profile project. Would anyone in the room mention your name? If not, you've got some self-promoting to do. E-mailing a weekly status report to your boss detailing major accomplishments or volunteering to present your group's milestones at a meeting are easy ways to increase your visibility.

4. Go beyond the call of duty. Another way to raise your profile is to assist colleagues with their workloads or take on tasks outside your job description. You might, for example, volunteer to serve as a trainer during new-hire orientations, lead the internship program or help organize the company's annual team-building event. These types of duties may not seem glamorous, but they're often near and dear to executives' hearts, and they force you to move out of your comfort zone.

5. Accept credit graciously. When someone compliments you for doing a good job, how do you react? If you typically shrug it off and say, "It was nothing," you may be leaving the door open for someone else to steal your thunder. Try instead, "Thank you. I'm glad the hard work paid off," or "Thanks. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, too." Just be careful about accepting credit that's not yours -- it's a sure-fire way to create tension and animosity among your teammates.

6. Shoot the breeze. Did you know the gift of gab can lead to improved work performance? Forty percent of workers polled by Robert Half International said water cooler conversations increase productivity by providing opportunities for employee bonding. In addition to engaging in occasional chit-chat with your co-workers, be sure to partake in company gatherings, such as the annual picnic or holiday party, and team-building activities. Through these informal events, you can develop camaraderie with other employees and make valuable new contacts within the organization.

7. Eat, drink and demonstrate proper dining decorum. The business lunch is becoming increasingly common, so it's in your best interest to learn proper dining etiquette. Being rude to wait staff or arriving late, for example, may cost you; these were cited as the top business blunders a professional can make during a lunch meeting by executives surveyed by Robert Half. Ordering the rib platter (or equally messy foods), constantly checking your cell phone or broaching business matters before orders are placed can also be a recipe for disaster.

8. Make more meaningful connections. Conferences and industry events are great opportunities to network, and there are a few tricks to help you make good first impressions. For example, wearing your name tag on the right side, near your shoulder, makes it easier for others to see and remember your name as they shake your hand. Using the back of people's business cards to write information about them, such as their interests, also will help jog your memory after the event and provide motive to follow up.

9. Give thanks. If someone recently helped you -- perhaps your neighbor alerted you to an employment opportunity or a friend proofread your résumé -- let the person know you appreciate the support. Take a few moments to write a short, sincere thank-you note. The respect, kindness and personal touch will create an indelible mark in your recipient's mind and improve the chances he or she will help out again.

Bernie Mac Died at 50

Bernie Mac was born in Chicago in 1957, Bernard Jeffrey McCollough. He grew up in Chicago, in a rougher neighborhood than most others, with a large family living under one roof. This situation provided him with a great insight into his comedy, as his family, and the situations surrounding them would be what dominated his comedy.

Mac was married to Rhonda McCullough in 1977. They had one daughter, Je'Niece (born 1978), who attended Xavier University of Louisiana where she received both her bachelors degree in Psychology and Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling. She has been married for three years and has one daughter, Jasmine, making Bernie Mac a grandfather.

Bernie Mac was hospitalized with pneumonia on August 1, 2008 and the following day, a source close to the family said that Mac was in "very, very critical" condition.[4] He was recovering from pneumonia, most likely brought on by his sarcoidosis, in a Chicago hospital. His publicist, Danica Smith, said that he was expected to make a full recovery and that he was responding well to treatment.[5]
On August 9, 2008 it was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that Bernie Mac had died,[6][7] with confirmation by the Associated Press about the cause of his death.[8][9]

Bernie Mac we will miss you...

Morgan Freemans wife called it quits

Morgan Freeman and his wife of 24 years, Myrna Colley-Lee, have filed for divorce, according to the actor's longtime business partner.


Bill Luckett, who co-owns a restaurant and blues club in Clarksdale, Miss. with Freeman, says the split was in the works way before Freeman's Sunday night car crash with female passenger Demaris Meyer, 48.


A tabloid reported that Freeman, 71, and his wife have been separated since December 2007. The National Enquirer claims Colley-Lee consulted a divorce attorney after hearing that Freeman cheated on her with "a close family friend."


“Myrna was terribly upset when she heard Morgan had become intimate with a woman who had been her friend,” a source told the National Enquirer.

Yesterday, Luckett told USA Today that he and the actor have been friends with Demaris "for some time."

Freeman was driving her Nissan Maxima when he lost control of the vehicle and it flipped over several times before landing in a ditch near his home in Tallahatchie County, Miss.


Bill Rogers, a retired police officer who was the first to arrive at the scene, said Freeman managed to relay that he and Meyer were headed to his home in Charleston, a small town some 90 miles south of Memphis.


"He said that they were friends and she had offered him a ride home and she didn't really know the way and so he was going to drive the vehicle," Rogers told the Associated Press Tuesday. "They said they were coming from Clarksdale."

Freeman and Luckett's Ground Zero Blues Club and Madadi restaurant are in Clarksdale. Norris, the manager of Ground Zero, said Wednesday that Freeman had not been there the night of the accident. No one at Madadi was available for comment, according to the AP.

Freeman suffered a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder injuries during the crash. He had surgery Monday on his left arm and hand, but his recovery is expected to take months. Luckett says Freeman will have to wear a neck brace for six to eight months, and his arm will take several months to heal.

Luckett also said earlier reports of Freeman having a severed nerve in his arm were not true. "Nothing was severed. A nerve can be bruised or stretched. It was injured but not severed," he said.

Freeman could be released in the next few days from the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis.